I'd love to work in Shel Silverstein's studio for a week... author and illustrator- not a clay guy- but such a thoughtful and gentle wit, humorist and observer of the humans around him that I'm sure my eyes would see fresh things by the end of the week that were invisible before!

When you say it fires to red- does it not fire to yellow? Sometimes new connections that heat up can be loose at high temp when they seem just fine at low temps... If it were my kiln, I'd go back and clean the connections to the new elements and then try again... if you still get no joy, take a look at your thermocouple... good luck! Tracking down electrical problems is a often thankless task...